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Ceremonies at the Unveiling of 
Monument to 

WILLIAM H. HERNDON 

Abraham Lincoln's la^ law partner • 






Oak Ridge Cemetery 

May 30, 1918 
Springfield, Illinois 



Ceremonies at the Unveiling of 
Monument to 

WILLIAM H. HERNDON 

Abraham Lincoln's la^ law partner 



Oak Ridge Cemetery 

May 30, 1918 
Springfield, Illinois 



ADDRESS BY 

HARDIN W. MASTERS, Esq. 

of the Springfield, Illinois Bar 



Pkivately Printed 



4 
. Vl SSL 



3 H <^'^ 'C 



CONTENTS 

Announcement, Nellie Browne Duff . . 2 
Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, 

Vacliel Lindsay 6 

Sixty Years Ago, From Henry B, Rankin . 8 

Introductory Remarks, Adolph Bernard . 9 

Dedicatory Address, Hardin W. Masters . 10 

Poem, William H. Herndon, Edgar Lee Masters 25 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

William H. Herndon, 1858 Frontispiece 

Photograph of Monument 

Fac-Simile Autographs ; Lincoln — Herndon 



ANNOUNCEMENT 
By Nellie Browne Duff 

A handsome monument has been erected in Oak 
Ridge Cemetery in this city to mark the grave of 
William H. Herndon, law partner of Abraham Lin- 
coln for seventeen years. The grave has been un- 
marked since the death of Mr. Herndon in 1891. 

The monument was ])urchased with a fund raised 
by special subscription and contributed to by per- 
sons in all parts of the United States. The com- 
mittee which secured the fund was composed of 
Henry B. Rankin of this city, who studied in. the 
office of Lincoln and Herndon, and who is the 
author of works on the life of Lincoln, H. E. Barker, 
also of Springfield, a collector of pictures and pub- 
lished works dealing with the life of Lincoln, and 
Jesse W. Weik, a collaborator with Herndon in his 
Life of Lincoln, of Greencastle, Indiana. 

It was felt that the fact of Mr. Herndon 's grave 
being unmarked was a matter of national import- 
ance, and the committee experienced no difficulty in 
securing subscriptions. The amount raised came 



8 

from forty-two people, living in Boston, New York, 
Texas, St. Louis, Chicago, Pennsylvania, Connecti- 
cut, and even in Balboa, a city in the Panama Canal 
Zone. 

The people who sent money for the monument 
fund expressed admiration and sympathy for the 
Herndon who was Lincoln's law partner in the '50s, 
and were interested in the fact that his grave was 
at last to be suitably marked. 

Mr. Rankin wrote an article in 1912 calling atten- 
tion to the fact that Herndon 's grave was unmarked, 
as well as several other places about the city of 
Springfield which had become noted because of asso- 
ciation with Lincoln. This article was read by Mr. 
Weik, who later asked Mr. Rankin and Mr. Barker 
to co-operate with him in an effort to place a monu- 
ment at Mr. Herndon 's grave. 

The monument is of gray granite, the base being 
of the unpolished stone, and the upper part of what 
is known as * ' Dark Quincy ' ' granite, the finest qual- 
ity of granite coming from Massachusetts quarries. 
The base is two feet wide and four feet long, and 
the entire height of the monument is five and one- 
half feet. 



9 

The inscription is simple, as is the monument 
itself, bearing the words, ''Abraham Lincoln's Law 
Partner Seventeen Years," the date of Mr. Hern- 
don's birtli, December 25, 1818, and of his death, 
March 18, 1891. The inscription further contains 
words which have an even greater meaning now 
than at the time they were written. Mr. Rankin, 
then a young man studying law in the office of Lin- 
coln and Herndon, brought an autograph album to 
the office one day, asking Mr. Lincoln to write the 
first words in it, and turning to Mr. Herndon for the 
next autograph. This album is still in the posses- 
sion of Mr. Rankin, and the words written by Mr. 
Herndon are inscribed on the monument. They 
were written on February '2'.], 1858, as follows: 

''The struggles of tliis age and succeeding 
ages for God and in an — religion, humanity 
and !)})(' lig, n-'ith all flirt r complex and 
grand lelations — mag flteg triumph and 
conquer forcrrr, is iiig ardent u-isJi and 
most fervent soul-pi'agcr." 

Mr. Herndon practiced law with Mr. Lincoln 
seventeen years. When Lincoln was made presi- 
dent and went to Washington, it was his wish that 
the sign of the law lii-iii of which he was a memlxM- 



10 

remain unchanged. As Henry B. Rankin has ox- 
pressed it, ''the partnership was dissolved by the 
hullot ol' Wilkes Booth." 

Through his long association with Lincoln, and 
liis intimate knowledge of his life, character and 
habits, Mr. Herndon wrote a Life of Abraham L'm- 
coln, which is considered by some to be the best and 
most authoritative story of Lincoln's life and history 
ever written. 

Mr. Herndon was twice married. The graves of 
the two wives are on either side of his, and the mon- 
ument which marks his grave bears an inscription 
U)Y each of them. 



11 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN WALKS AT MIDNIGHT 
IN SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS 

(Recited by the author, Vachel Lindsay) 

It is portentous, and a thing of state 

That here at midnight, in our little toivn 
A mourning figure ivalks, and, ivill not rest, 

Near the old court house pacing up and down. 
Or hy his homestead, or in shadoived yards 

He lingers ivhere his children used to play. 
Or through the market, on the ivell-ivorn stones, 

He stalks until the dawn-stars burn away. 
A bronzed, lank man! His suit of ancient black, 

A famous high top Itat, and plain worn shawl 
Make him the quaint great figure that men love, — 

The prairie lawyer, master of us all. 
He cannot sleep upon liis hill-side now. 

He is among us, as in times before. 
And we who toss, and lie awake for long. 

Breathe deep, and start, to see him pass the door. 
His head is bowed. He thinks on men and kings. 

Yea, when the sick world cries, how can he sleep f 
Too many peasants fight, they knoiv not ivhy. 

Too many homesteads in black terror weep. 



12 

The sins of all the war-lords burn his heart. 

He sees the dreadnaughts scouring every main. 
He carries on liis shawl-tvrapped shoulders noiv 

The bitterness, the folly and the pain. 
He cannot rest until a spirit-dawn 

Has come : the shining hope of Europe free : 
The leagiie of sober folk, the workers' earth, 

Bringing long peace to cornland, alp and sea. 
U breaks his heart that kings must murder still, 

That all his hours of travail here for men 
Seem yet in vain. And ivho will bring white peace 

That Jie mag sleep upon his hill again? 



14 



SIXTY YExVKS AGO 

. . . Coming into the office with this book in my 
hand, it attracted Lincohi's attention. Taking it 
from me, and finding the pages blank, he asked what 
it was to be used for. I explained that I meant to 
procure from time to time autographs of friends, and 
I had brought it with me then to get his signature for 
the first page of the book. . . , He placed it 
open at the first page, on the table before him, took 
his pen and wrote : 

Today, Feb. 23, 1858, the owner honored 
me with the privilege of writing the first 
name in this book. 

A. Lincoln. 

I placed the book next before Mr. Herndon, and 
requested him to write on the same page. He read 
Lincoln's lines, paused, as if considering what ho 
would write, then took his pen and rapidly wrote : 

The struggles of this age and succeed- 
ing ages for God and man — Religion — Hu- 
manity and Liberty — with all their complex 
and grand relations — may they triumph and 
conquer forever, is my ardent wish and 
most fervent soul-prayer. 

Wm. H. Herndon. 

Feb. 23, 1858. 

Pp. 132-134. "Personal Kecollectidns of .Mnahiiin Lincoln, tlic Fir.'^t 
American," by Henrv i:. IJankin. \i\>. V2^. d'ntiiaius Sons, N\-\v Vork. 
191 G.) 



15 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 

By Adolph Bernard 
President of the Sangamon County Bar Association 

Introducing Mr. Masters, x\dolx)h Bernard said: 

'* Ladies and Gentlemen — The Committee having 
in charge the arrangements for these exercises are 
to be congratulated that, in addition to that which 
has preceded, we are now to hear the address dedi- 
catory of this monument. The speaker is a well 
known lawyer of our city, a life-time citizen of Illi- 
nois, and was well acquainted with Mr. Herndon in 
his later years. He is recognized as a forceful and 
eloquent speaker wherever known, and you will not 
leave this spot with any disappointment on his ac- 
count. I take great pleasure in presenting to you as 
the orator of the day, Hardin W. Masters, Esq., of 
Springfield, who will now address you. 



16 



ADDRESS 

Mr. Masters said: 

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen and 
Friends : 

It is fitting that upon the occasion of the decora- 
tion of the graves of our fallen heroes and friends 
which has become a sacred custom throughout the 
land, that we should also decorate the graves of the 
civilian heroes as ^vell as those who may have fallen 
in battle, for "Peace hath its victory no less re- 
nowned than those in war." 

We come to dedicate the marker placed at tlie 
grave of our friend in life, William H. Herndon. It 
may be thought a tardy recognition of the merits of 
the dead, but it is none the less sincere. The memory 
of the active, impulsive, energetic man in life, who 
now sleeps beneath this stone, is more bright and his 
character as a man better understood than at the 
time of his death. A bright intellect and a w^orthy 
citizen passes away, — in the mad rush of life we 
pause, look into the open grave, perhaps shed the 
sympathetic tear, and immediately joiii in life's 



17 

battle, aiul except for recollections which mav be 
momentary, his life and character and the memory 
thereof gradually fades away. Men die but princi- 
ples forever survive. Those whose memories live 
throughout the ages and withstand the ravages of 
time are those who have accomplished something in 
this life. Men whose memories expand and grow 
brighter as the years pass, are those regarded as 
having been given to the world to act a part, per- 
form a service for humanity, govern a nation, com- 
mand an army or deliver a message. In a sense this 
is true. But even so when the individual life is anal- 
yzed, it will be found that a Napoleon, Washington, 
a Shakespeare, Grant or Lincoln, through his ability, 
energy and labor worked out his own destiny. 

William H. Herndon in his brief day accomplished 
much. When he wrote the sentiment carved on this 
marker in the album of Henry B, Rankin, his law 
student, he was weighted down mentally with the 
struggles that were then on in this nation. It was 
a struggle for humanity, liberty, democracy and for 
God. The tragedy in which Lovejoy lost his life 
wrought a change in the mental attitude of Mr. Hern- 
don and his soul was inspired with the thought to 
banish forever the evil which had fastened itself 



18 

upon tliis nation. His impetuous, zealous and im- 
pulsive nature was arouscMJ to right the wrongs and 
evil of slavery. From the day when, as a student at 
Illinois College, with forceful and eloquent denun- 
ciation of Lovejov's murder, until the day of the end 
of slavery, he never ceased his assaults against any 
and all, who sought to obstruct the way that led to 
ultimate success. The great service rendered by him 
in the struggles of that day, interwoven as they were 
with the immortal Lincoln, places his memory upon 
an historic plane and it will grow brighter through 
all the ages to come. 

He was the intimate friend and adviser of the 
martyred president for more than a score of years. 
In a professional, social and political way, they 
were in full sympathy and accord. Mr. Herndon 
loved Lincoln and rejoiced in his every success polit- 
ically and otherwise, and he lived to place upon the 
memory of Lincoln a literary w^reath that will Tiever 
be excelled. It was a tribute of liis devotion to Lin- 
coln as a man and as president, and as he doubtless 
thought, was a faithful l)iograi)liy of tlie life of Mr. 
Lincoln. 

Herndon had in the fullest measure the courage of 
his convictions, and he paved the way to Lincoln's 
success with fearless voice and pen and materially 



10 

assisted in the accomplislimeiit of the desired result. 
Great men in those days, unable to break away from 
established policies and a legalized wrong, sought to 
belittle Lincoln's terse statement that "this nation 
could not endure half slave and half free," but that 
ultimately it would become all one thing or all the 
other. 

This statement was justified by subsequent history 
and his name stands forth in freedom's beautiful 
robes and form, and today blesses the people of all 
these United States. 

Today the world is engaged in a titanic struggle to 
determine the question whether this world can en- 
dure part autocracy and jjart democracy. It is the 
last, as we fervently hope, of the struggles of hu- 
manity for freedom and liberty and may we not 
conclude that with prophetic vision when these 
words, inscribed upon this tomb, were written by 
Mr. Herndon, that he foresaw the struggle which 
was ultimately to come and which is now upon us. 
The struggles of the day of which he wrote was not 
the first, but up to that time was one of the most 
important struggles for liberty. 

Did he see in prophetic vision the millions of men 
arrayed against each other upon the field of battle. 



20 

the Olio side seeking to perpetuate autocracy and the 
propaganda that might makes right, and on the otlier 
that all men are created free and that the divine 
right of kings to rule must and shall be wiped from 
the face of the earth f The sentiment in the inscrip- 
tion on this tablet as the soulful prayer of William 
H. Herndon, was answered in 1865, and the prayer 
therein expressed and by him extended to us of this 
day will be answered in this bloody conflict as it was 
then. This struggle will continue until the world 
becomes a democracy and the common people will be 
kings with the right of freedom and self-government. 

A lawyer of ability, William H. Herndon gave his 
life and best energy to the cause of humanity. He 
was equipped by nature with a splendid intellect and 
a zealous, honest, soulful nature, and he threw his 
life and force with voice and pen into the cause he 
espoused. 

Wrongfully he has been accused with being an 
office seeker and that his life was embittered. Noth- 
ing could be further from the real truth. He was 
not an office seeker, nor was he an office holder, and 
beyond some local office, he never held or sought 
for ])osition or public office. He was appointed 
bank examiner by the war governor, Richard Yates, 



21 

and when Lincoln, after his election to the Presi- 
dency, asked him if he wished for any position, he 
replied: "No; you may speak to Governor Yates; 
I would like to be re-appointed bank examiner." 

Lincoln was a conservative, Herndon was a rad- 
ical. They were agreed as to the ultimate purpose, 
but differed as to the methods to attain that purpose. 
Mr. Herndon was some years the junior of Mr. Lin- 
coln. He was a great student and omniverous 
reader, and was a great aid to Mr. Lincoln, being- 
possessed of extensive book knowledge. From the 
day he entered into partnership with Lincoln in the 
practice of law, until such partnership was dissolved 
by death, he was his faithful friend. He was one of 
the earliest and perhaps the foremost who urged 
Lincoln to become a candidate for the presidency. 
He had carefully canvassed the ground in the State 
of Illinois with Mr. Lincoln's friends on that sub- 
ject. He was chosen and commissioned to canvass 
the situation throughout the Eastern States and 
well, as history informs us, did he perform this 
service. His commission was to create a sentiment 
for Lincoln. 

During the debates held between Lincoln and 
Douglas in the year 1858, to a degree Lincoln de- 



22 

pended upon his partner, Mr. Herndon, to furnisli 
him with data and facts and often durino- this mem- 
orable campaign he telegraphed or wrote Herndon 
for such information. As it appears to us now, he 
was the forerunner for Abraham Lincoln and his 
mission was to pave the way to his election, — not 
only of his election to the presidency, but for the 
ultimate success of his theory and belief, in freedom 
for all the people of these United States. 

Wm. H. Herndon had few equals as a public 
speaker, and if not the first he was among the first 
to speak in favor of the abolition of slavery which 
was made in this State. He took a bold stand 
against slavery and the first address was delivered 
by him at Petersburg, Illinois, — yet remembered by 
some of the older citizens. This was a classic and 
one of the greatest orations Herndon ever made 
from the stump. It was an historic oration, and in 
his peroration he appealed to Donati's comet, asking 
it to inform its heavenly sisters of what was about 
to take place in the United States for (lod and hu- 
manity. 

Mr. Herndon was not only not an office seeker, but 
he cared but little for the goods of this world, and 
true to the old saying as a lawyer he "worked hard, 



23 

lived well and died poor." Of his time and labor lie 
gave without stint to the great cause he had es- 
poused. No man who ever lived or died had greater 
love or admiration for Lincoln than did William H. 
Herndon, and when the news flashed over the wire 
in this country in 1860, announcing Lincoln's elec- 
tion, his was a boyish joy. In the daily intercourse 
in the dingy law office between these two great men, 
a friendship and admiration for each other had been 
established that time could not change nor modify. 

Temperamentally and in almost all other respects, 
they were as unlike as two men might be. Lincoln 
in a sense was an uneducated man, while Herndon 
had a liberal education. Historical facts were at his 
command and philosophy and literature were not 
unknown to him, and in the fullness of his mental 
storehouse he was able to and did render valuable 
service, as it was his pleasure to do, to his partner, 
his friend and afterward the martyred president. 

In the decline of his life it was my good fortune and 
honor to have intimately known Mr. Herndon. As I 
entered upon the way and the struggles that were 
before me, I frequently and freely met and talked 
with him. It was with profound interest I heard 
from his lips of the past, the road over which he had 



L>4 

then traveled and the struggles he had had to con- 
tend with. His life as I knew it was an honest, earn- 
est struggle for the right as he saw it. He had no 
ambition to acquire riches or fame. His life was 
devoted to succor the oppressed and to eradicate 
and blot out the stain of slavery in this nation. It 
was his ambition to make the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence everywhere a living truth. While he was 
a lawyer, he disliked the technicalities of practice 
and frequently made jocular remarks about the dif- 
ference between "tweedle-de and tweedle-dum. " 

Knowing him as I did, if he could be heard from 
the spirit world to speak and express his wish here 
today beyond that expressed on his tomb, it would 
be his wish that no unjust claims should be made for 
him, and that no eulogy be pronounced upon his life 
which was not supported by the record and sustained 
by the proofs. He would also in his honest, blunt 
way command that no excuse be offered for his faults 
nor that his failings be exaggerated. 

Such was the character of William H. Herndon. 
He loved the truth. His early life, so far as I know, 
was much the same as that of other young men sim- 
ilarly situated. 



20 



He came of splendid ancestry, who were from tlio 
South, and in their sentiments were pro-slavery, but 
when the Whig party was dissolved in 1854, he 
allied himself with the Whigs and Democrats, who 
took the view of slavery that it was a moral wrong 
and ought to be done away with. It may be true that 
in his youthful zeal the murder of Lovejoy, hereto- 
fore referred to, changed the whole course of his 
life, because from that day he espoused the cause 
for which Lovejoy died, and the force of his logic 
and versatility of his pen were used to light the fires 
of liberty throughout the land, and he was fortunate 
to know that what he had labored for had been ac- 
complished. 

He did his work with wliich the world may be con- 
cerned within comparatively a few years,— from 
1854 to 1870 embraces the time in which he wrought. 
During that period and until the period of 1861, he 
was the active business partner of Lincoln. 

As I said a while ago, Lincoln was a conservative, 
having his origin in the South, he hated slavery, but 
recognized that under the organic law of the land, 
the slave was the property of the southern people, 
and if it were necessary to prove that Lincoln was a 
conservative, in the emancipation proclamation 



26 

which was issued by him, the abolishment of shivery 
was contingent upon the States then in rebellion re- 
turning to the Union, and that they would lay down 
their arms, otherwise the emancipation proclama- 
tion at a certain time would take effect. The States 
in rebellion refused to accept this condition and slav- 
ery was therefore abolished. This result was hailed 
by Herndon as an epoch in history and an answer to 
his soulful prayer for liberty, and so it is that his 
life is connected with that of Lincoln. 

Being as he was, a firm friend and admirer of 
Lincoln and long before he was nationally known he 
from the mountain tops and the sublime points of 
vantage, looked down upon the plain wdiere the sen- 
timent was created which was to materialize and 
bear the fruit which in God's good time would wold 
together the nations of the world and all mankind in 
one common brotherhood. 

Those who scoffed at Lincoln and carricatured him 
and ridiculed him as an incompetent did not know 
or understand him. Herndon knew Lincoln better 
than Seward, Greeley or Chase, or any other of the 
legal advisers in or out of his cabinet. He was con- 
fident and so expressed himself in his correspond- 
ence with Theodore Parker and others when he said, 



27 

"Wait and see," and in waiting he was jnstiiied 
when the world became aware of the fact that Lin- 
coln -was greater than the whole of those wiio tra- 
dnced him and sought to be his advisers or to belittle 
him. 

Herndon therefore not oidy supported and aided 
Lincoln in his proper ambition before, but after he 
became the head of the nation and commander of the 
greatest army of the world up to that time. 

My friends, Herndon 's love for Lincoln did not 
cease upon his death, but he was his champion after- 
w^ard. 

Herndon may have made mistakes in some of his 
writings. He was human and made mistakes in 
other matters. If I should say he did not, I would 
offend against the truth and place him in charactci- 
above the human and above the man for whom he 
did so much. The history of each of these men is 
written. It may be that it is not as well understood 
now^ as it will be a hundred years from now. TIk- 
relation between Herndon and Lincoln wdll become 
better understood as time goes on. If it be granted 
that Mr. Herndon made a mistake in his biography 
of Mr. Lincoln, it w-as a mistake of the head and not 
of the heart, and in no sense does it detract from the 



28 

glory or grandeur of Mr. Lincoln's character, jind 
if there is a word or statement that can be found in 
any of William H. Herndon's writings with refer- 
ence to Lincoln, which is not strictly in accordance 
with the truth, knowing Herndon as I did, I with 
confidence assert that when he wrote the same he 
believed it to be true. 

Yes, Mr. Herndon had his faults as all men have, 
but a multitude of faults in his case could be over- 
looked when we say and challenge the world to dis- 
pute it, that he was scrupulously honest and a man 
of truth and integrity. It is no great deed or act to 
revile the living at least in their absence; it is easy 
and requires little courage to make charges against 
the dead, as no word comes back from the grave in 
reply, and as the memory of the martyred Lincoln 
shall grow brighter and his colossal figure stand 
forth adorning the pages of history for all time to 
come, so shall be known the virtues of his co-agitator 
and friend, who sleeps beneath this stone. 

"Li the struggles of this age and the ages to come, 
for God, humanity and liberty, may they conquer 
forever is my soulful prayer." Who but a soul and 
mind devoted and dedicated to the cause of human- 
ity and to God and to the principles of liberty and 



29 

the cause of righteousness, on the moment, could 
have penned these words, so pregnant with patriotic 
sentiment, so earnest, and impressive? No friend 
nor adversary ever could or did charge William H. 
Herndon with duplicitj^ or insincerity. He was 
loyal to his friends and an open, courageous adver- 
sary. He was zealous, but abounded in charity. In 
the epoch and history-making period in which he 
lived, he stood forth as the champion of and advo- 
cated the principles announced by the sentiment on 
this stone. 

In the re-birth of civilization now taking place in 
which the world is being drenched with human blood 
and the issues of force and might are arrayed 
against right and democracy, in this struggle may 
we not know, had William H. Herndon lived today, 
where he would have stood ! Yes, with incisive, terse 
language, with keen logic, by voice and pen, he 
would be heard in the cause of liberty, for the cause 
of democracy, for the people and for God, — in this 
great struggle which lie seems to have foreshadowed, 
when he wrote those words, would some day arise. 

Dead! His wish, his recorded, soulful prayer is 
with us today, — the wish and soulful prayer of the 
American nation and the civilized world, that autoc- 



racy and mii»'ht sliall bo crushed by democracy and 
right; and this soulful jjrayer of Herndon's is also 
that America and her heroic allies whose blood and 
treasures arc being poured out in the cause of hu- 
manity shall not have been in vain. 

Thus, in life, Lincoln and Herndon, allies and 
friends, partners in the practice of law, differing 
radically, yet firmly held together, and in accord as 
to ultimate truth and facts, — in death their memorj" 
so blended as to be inseparable. 

Live on, oh Lincoln! Live on, oh Herndon! and 
ages to come may your lights be reflected and your 
labors for humanity be the more prized and appre- 
ciated. And may your example be forever the in- 
spiration of the youth of the land and the star of 
tiieir liope, and as time goes on 1)0 ])etter under- 
stood. 

So today with feeble words and simple ceremonies, 
but with loyal hearts and loving hands, we decorate 
with flowers the grave of our friend, a civilian hero, 
and dedicate this stone as pointing the spot where 
forever will repose the ashes of Illiiiois' illustrious 
son, whose prayer, a continuing wisli for liberty, God 
and Immanity, is with us. and an inspiration to all 
those who tliis day, on the blood-drenched battle 



31 

fields of France are bravely challenging the advanc- 
ing hosts of autocracy and might. 

* ' The struggles of this age and succeeding ages for 
God and man — religion, humanit}^ and liberty, with 
all their complex and grand relations — may their tri- 
umph and conquer forever, is my ardent wish and 
most fervent soul-prayer." 

In the ages to come, when this stone, through ihe 
ravages of time shall have crumbled to dust and 
decay, may this sentiment now chiseled thereon be 
the creed and the realized hope of all the world, and 
the memory of its author, William H. Herndon, live 
on to bless and cheer mankind until struggles shall 
be no more ! 



WILLIAM H. HERNDON 

There by the window in the old house 

Perched on the hluff, overloolcing miles of valleij, 

My days of labor closed, sitting out life's decline, 

Day by day did I look in my memory. 

As one who gazes in an enchantress' crystal globe, 

And I saw the figures of the past, 



32 

As if in a pageant glassed hy a shining dream, . 
Move through the incredible sphere of time. 
And I saw a man arise from the soil like a fabler- 
giant 
And throw himself over a deathless destiny, 
Master of great armies, head of the republic, 
Bringing together into a dithyramb of recreative 
song 

The epic hopes of a people; 

At the same time Vulcan of sovereign fires, 

Where imperishable shields and sivords were beaten 

out 
From spirits tempered in heaven. 
Look in the crystal! See hoiv he hastens on 
To the place where his path comes up to the path 
Of a child of Plutarch and Shakespeare, 
Lincoln, actor indeed, playifig ivell your part, 
And Booth, tvho strode in a mimic play within the 

play, 
Often and, often I saw you, 

As the caiving crows winged their way to the wood 
Over my house-top at solemn sunsets. 
There by my window. 
Alone. 

From Spoon River /I nflio/of/y by 

Edgar Lee Masters 



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